Some 51 illegal immigrants have been arrested at the Asikumah checkpoint in the Volta Region.
The ECOWAS nationals were arrested by personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
The immigrants who include minors were made up of 49 Beninese and two Togolese, comprising 15 females and 36 males.
They were intercepted on Wednesday February 3, 2021 at the Asikuma Inland Checkpoint onboard a Hyundai Universe Express with registration number AW-9955-19.
The bus was being driven by one Osei Asibery.
The arrest comes less than two weeks after some 119 illegal immigrants were intercepted at the Sogakope inland checkpoint in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region.
The Commander at the Checkpoint, Deputy Superintendent (DSI) Philip Essuman, narrating the incident, said the suspects were intercepted when the vehicle they were traveling with was stopped at the checkpoint and the occupants subjected to a careful scrutiny.
They were suspected to have gained entry into the country illegally from neighbouring Togo through unapproved routes.
This, the suspects confirmed in their written statement. They explained that they gained entry into the country illegally from Togo with the assistance of unknown commercial motor bike riders on the Togo side of the border.
They also claimed they were only transiting through Ghana to Abidjan, the commercial capital of Côte d’Ivoire in search of greener pastures.
After the necessary checks, they were escorted to the GIS Aflao Command by a team of Immigration Officers led by ASI Charles Forley. They were handed over at about 7:30pm on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
All suspects have since been sent back to Lome, Togo after they were made to go through necessary immigration and basic COVID-19 protocols at the Aflao border.
Felix Klu Adjai, the Public Affairs Officer of the Volta Regional Command of the GIS in a statement confirming the incident said the Service was on high alert especially as the cases of COVID-19 surge in the West African Sub-region.
To this end, he entreated all citizens and individual drivers who frequently used the Asikuma and Sogakope Inland Checkpoints not to be worried with the checks, but rather cooperate with current strategic security arrangements; which is aimed at tracking illegal immigrants and safeguarding Ghanaians against COVID-19 importation.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)